Some of the best Halloween costumes are the most topical: dressing up as the sports star of the moment or one of the actors in that year’s Hollywood blockbuster are almost surefire hits. But so are some of the worst, and one of this year’s costumes is getting extra attention.

The viral photos show three young adults, including two men portraying George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin. One is wearing a “Neighborhood Watch” T-shirt, the other is in Blackface and wearing a large gray hoodie with blood splattered on the chest. In one picture, the trio are all smiles … as the Zimmerman character points his fingers like a gun at his Martin-portraying friend.

The young woman in the photos found them funny enough to post a series of them to Instagram and Facebook, though her Facebook page has since been deleted. Oh, yeah, they’re from Florida, where Martin’s death led to protests and where the public lambasted the prosecutors after Zimmerman’s acquittal.

And then, as if trying to outdo every other racist and offensive costume out there, there are the pictures that emerged on the “BlackinAsia” tumblr account from a party in Australia. Asked to arrive in African-themed costumes, Blackfaced individuals were joined by gorillas … and posed with people dressed as Ku Klux Klansmen. The girl who posted them has tried to defend the pictures—which Facebook did not immediately take down and which one friend found “only slightly racist hahaha.”

I have to say, this article was enlightening to me. I had never heard the term blackface until now…it actually made me sad when I saw the definition online. The ‘neighborhood watch’ costume seemed very mean spirited. I believe that Julianne did not realize she went too far with her costume (makeup). With that being said, I don’t think white charactors/costumes are reserved for ‘white’ people (and so on for black charactors/costumes, mexican charactors/costumes, and so on). Halloween should be fun, not hurtful!

You notice that it is not children dressing up in these offensive costumes, it is adults. People who should know better, people who claim racism is dead, and it always seems to be “white” people. I have yet to come across a black person in “white face” or wearing such offensive costumes. What is the mindset here? Or could it be that these people believe they are inadequate that they have to try and bring other down to make themselves feel better?

I see this stuff and I shake my head. Your not helping yourself or the overall reputation of your people. Just like when one black person does something, we all do it. That same bias pops up in my thoughts when I see garbage like this.

My foreign-born husband always says that these are the type of things that occur because Americans have too much food in their bellies. I’m beginning to realize that there are actually many benefits to suffering.